


Good Goes the Bye

by DiamondBlade



Series: Thankful [4]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: Amnesia, F/M, Family Bonding, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 02:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21154154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondBlade/pseuds/DiamondBlade
Summary: Chase remembers everything before his accident, except for one person in particular. Why can Chase remember everyone except that particular individual? Can Kendall and the others help Chase break through his mental block?





	Good Goes the Bye

**Author's Note:**

> Rereading this brings back such warm memories of writing this back in 2015. I mean, the story itself isn't pleasant right now, but there's one fun thing: Jenifer acting out the "Little Red Riding Rabbit" cartoon!

_“Do I know you?”_ The words resonated inside Riley’s brain. “Chase, it’s me.” He looked at him, confused. “Riley?”

“Ah, yes,” he replied. Riley breathed a sigh of relief. “I’d like to order my meals for today. First, I’d like –“

“Wait a minute. You think that I work in the cafeteria… Here?” Riley asked.

“Don’t you?” He shook his head. “Are you my nurse?” He shook his head. “Well, you couldn’t possibly be the housekeeping staff. They can barely speak English.”

“First of all, that’s racist. Secondly, you don’t know who I am?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize you.”

“Let’s try something.” He walked out into the hall, and walked back in with Kendall. “Do you recognize her?”

“I do. That’s Ms. Morgan, our boss at the Museum.”

“Interesting…”

She looked at Riley. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to see how far back Chase’s amnesia goes.” He walked out into the hall, and came back in with Koda. “Who’s this?”

“Koda, my caveman! How are you, mate?”

“I fine. How are you? How’s… Head?”

Chase rubbed his head. “Oh, it hurts something terrible.”

“He also doesn’t remember anything about me, yet he remembers you and Kendall,” Riley added.

“You don’t remember Riley?” Koda asked. “He and you… Very close.”

“Really? How close? Bros?”

“No. You two –“ Riley put his hand over Koda’s mouth.

“Exactly,” Riley said, sighing. “We’re bros.”

“But, Riley –“

“No, Kendall, I think this is how it’s going to be. I hope that it’s only temporary.”

_“Can we come in?”_ Shelby asked from in the hallway. _“Tyler’s starting to play with the equipment out here.”_

“It’s fine!” Riley shouted. Shelby and Tyler walked in. He turned toward Chase. “Do you remember them?”

“How could I forget Sherry?”

“_Sherry?_” Tyler asked.

“Isn’t that her name?”

“I told you to stop calling me that. It’s ‘Shelby.’ SHELL BEE.”

“I know, but it’s fun to mess with you.” He smiled.

“Hold the phone. You remember everyone else, but have no idea who I really am?” Chase shook his head. “I… I need to go. Excuse me, everyone.” He ran out of the room.

Kendall looked around. “I’d better go after him. You guys stay and visit. Maybe you can jog Chase’s memory about Riley. I’m going to try and calm him down before he does something stupid.”

“Kendall, I don’t think that Riley is one to do anything stupid,” Tyler commented. “He’s not Chase.”

_“Hey!”_

“No offense, but you’re not the most careful of people.”

“It’s always the smart ones that have that fine line between being calm and being irrational. Basically losing Chase has got to be devastating for him, and he’s going to need someone to help him through this. I need to get going.” She looked over at Chase. “You need to get better and get back to work. That grill’s not going to clean itself!”

“I’ll try!” Chase waved, and Kendall ran off after Riley.

Shelby approached Chase, and looked at all of the equipment that he was hooked up to. “All of this for a head injury… It’s unbelievable.”

“Sheila, can I ask you a question?”

She sighed. “It’s – Never mind. What’s up?”

“Should I remember Riley?”

~*~

Kendall caught up with Riley, who was sitting on a bench outside of the entrance of the hospital. “There you are! Do you know what it’s like to run after you in heels?”

He lifted his head up and turned around, exposing his crying expression. “He doesn’t remember me AT ALL. Everything that we’ve been through… It’s like none of it happened!”

“Aw, Riley…” She sat down and put her arm around him. He leaned on her shoulder. “Amnesia is a very touchy situation. Sometimes, amnesia victims forget everything, or they take on an entirely new personality. Other times, they only forget certain aspects of their lives. Sometimes, it’s the most pleasurable parts of their memories that they lose.”

“But… He didn’t even recognize me. Why wouldn’t he even have the slightest idea who I was?”

“Perhaps, it’s because you two were – ARE – boyfriends. You two have had some pretty memorable experiences, haven’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“That part of Chase’s memory must be closed off to him, due to the trauma. You moved from a ‘friend’ zone into a ‘romance’ zone. The memories of you two are still in Chase’s mind, but it’s like they’re locked in a room, and he misplaced the key.”

“What can I do?”

“Well, you have two options: You can either mope around and possibly lose Chase forever, or you can make him fall for you all over again. The magic happened once; I’m sure that you can do it again. If you can jog his memory, you might be able to unlock that door. However, I think you need some time away from all of this. Isn’t your family having their big Thanksgiving feast this week?”

Riley nodded. “Yeah, we usually do Thanksgiving a day early. Mom likes to shop on Friday, so we typically spend Thursday standing in line.”

“You guys are _those_ people, camping out at Best Buy for a day to get a TV for $200?” He nodded. “Can I ask what the big draw is?”

“Mostly, it’s the camaraderie that develops from standing in line for a day and a half in the cold.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Still, I don’t want to leave him here.”

“He’ll be in good hands. You can’t sit here 24 hours a day and hope that Chase magically remembers you. Go and be with your family. We’ll work with Chase.”

~*~

“Well, you and Riley were dating,” Shelby explained, “and you were practically living together. In fact, you have a key to his apartment that you had made behind his back.”

“I don’t think I’d do anything sneaky like that,” Chase commented. “Why wouldn’t I just ask him for a key?”

“You’re impulsive, and that’s what Riley loves about you, to say nothing of the wild sex that you two have.”

“Define ‘wild.’”

“Highway rest stop bathroom wild.”

Chase shook his head. “There’s no way that I’d have sex with anyone in a highway bathroom. Those things are disgusting.”

“You brought out a side of Riley that none of us had ever seen,” Tyler added. “Likewise, he brought out a side of you that none of us had seen.”

“You and Riley go together like pterodactyl and jelly,” Koda interjected.

“I think you mean, ‘peanut butter,’ mate,” Chase said. “I get what you’re all saying, but I just don’t remember any of this. I remember the two of you, and I remember our Ranger adventures, and I know that there were five of us for a while, until Ivan joined the team. I’m the Black Ranger. Tyler, you’re Red. Suzanne over there is Pink, and Koda’s the Blue one. Ivan’s the Gold one… That’s only five. Who’s the sixth, and what color is he?”

“Green,” Koda replied. “Riley is Green Ranger.”

“Really? That Riley kid is a Power Ranger?” He pondered for a little bit. “Nope, it’s not ringing a bell.”

“C’mere,” Tyler said, motioning for Koda and Shelby to huddle around him. _“Guys, this is serious. He remembers all of us, but not Riley. Why is that?”_

_“Maybe it’s the head wound. It knocked Riley right out of his head.”_

_“What can we do… Help Chase remember Riley?”_

_“I don’t think there’s anything we CAN do, Koda,”_ Tyler said, softly. _“Chase needs to get over this on his own.”_

~*~

“You’re sure that I should leave Chase alone?”

“As the old saying goes, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ You need your family right now. This is, essentially, a breakup, and you shouldn’t sit here and make yourself sick waiting for Chase to possibly remember you. It could take months for his memory to fully return.”

Riley stood up. “MONTHS?!”

“Riley, sit back down.” He obliged. “Amnesia isn’t something that just goes away in a few hours. It could take a couple of days, or it could take a couple of months. Would Chase want you to sit here and worry about him, or would he want you to live your own life, checking in every so often because he’s fine and doesn’t need you hovering over him because he’s not going to look up from his skateboard or his PS2 and remember that it’s your anniversary, and –“

“Um… Kendall?” He tapped her on the shoulder.

“—I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “Wow, where did THAT come from?”

“Repressed memory, perhaps?” Riley asked, grinning.

“There’s that smile. I’m glad that my insanity over actually having had a relationship with Chase could make you feel a little better.”

“This talk definitely helped. I think I’ll go back to the farm. You’re right. The Chase I knew wouldn’t want me moping around. Just promise me that you guys will take good care of him for me.”

“Definitely. Scout’s Honor.” Kendall crossed her heart and raised her right hand.

“That’s not the gesture.”

“I clearly wasn’t a Girl Scout. Now, go and be with your family. I’ll go back up and see how everyone’s doing.”

“Thank you… For everything.” Riley walked toward his car in the parking lot.

Kendall turned around and walked back into the hospital.

~*~

_“So, we’re just going to do nothing?”_ Shelby asked. _“Is that what Riley would want?”_

_“It’s definitely what he would want,”_ Kendall interjected, scaring the three of them, who sprang up and turned toward her. “Why were we whispering?”

“I don’t know,” Chase commented, “but it’s really hard to hear you guys when you’re not talking to me. I _am_ the patient, you know.”

Kendall smirked. “Oh, we know...”

“I haven’t seen that smirk since I told you that we were breaking up because I already had seven other girlfriends.”

Shelby’s and Tyler’s jaws dropped. “You dated Kendall?!”

“Duh,” Koda said. The two of them looked at him. “You didn’t know?”

“Um, no!”

“Yes, he and Kendall like he and Riley, few years before Kendall find Keeper and Energems. Two broke up. Chase save Moana and get Energem. Kendall FURIOUS, but have to put on face to work around Chase on constant basis. Drive Kendall crazy!”

“Thank you for the excellent summation, Koda. Yes, Chase and I did date, but we broke up right around when I started on the Energem research. When he came back into my life with the Black Energem, it did drive me insane at first, but I got over it.”

“C’mon, babe,” Chase said, motioning toward his biceps, “can you really ever get over Lefty and Righty?”

“I did, but seeing you tied down to that bed just makes me feel so giddy, like I’m in control.” She approached the bed and the equipment. “What if I pull this plug? It’d turn off your IV drip. What if I turn up the pressure on your leg cuffs? Your feet could just SNAP right off!” Chase’s eyes widened, and he gulped. She made her way to the other side of the bed and slammed her hand down onto the mattress, by his waist. “How does it feel to be helpless?”

“I… I…” Chase was speechless.

Tyler laughed a little, to try and ease the tension. “Look at the time! We have to go!”

“We do?” Koda asked.

Shelby grabbed Kendall’s arm and led her out. “We have a thing!”

Koda scratched his head. “Thing?”

“I’ll tell you later, big guy.” He turned toward Chase. “Get well soon!” He led Koda out of the room.

Chase scratched his head. “That was weird… Although, I _do_ like being in control…”

Outside, Kendall pulled away from Shelby. “Why are you pulling me?”

She turned around. “What was that back there?”

“Did you enjoy my performance?”

“You very convincing,” Koda replied.

“Thank you,” she said, smirking. “You see, guys, in doing that, I was trying to unlock Chase’s memories of Riley. Knowing from my own experience with him that he likes to be in control, I used his lack of control to my advantage. If Chase was really the dominant one in his and Riley’s relationship, acting as though I was the dominant one in a situation might trigger something in Chase’s mind.”

“I see,” Tyler commented. “So, by acting like Chase would with Riley, you were hoping that it would bring back some memories of the two of them, and he’d be back to normal.”

“Exactly,” Kendall said, nodding.

“Do you think it worked?” Shelby asked.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Koda scratched his head. “I’m confused…”

“I’ll draw it out for you when we get back to the base,” Kendall said.

~*~

Later that afternoon, Riley pulled into the driveway of the family farm. He parked the car, turned off the ignition, and got out, where an excited Rubik was wagging his tail rather excitedly. He knelt down and rubbed him all over. “At least someone I love remembers me.” He sighed. Rubik stood on his hind legs and put his paws on Riley’s shoulders, giving him kisses on his face. “Aww, Rubik! I’m gonna cry again!”

_“Did I hear that right?”_ Riley set Rubik down and stood up, coming face to face with Matt. “You’re going to cry AGAIN?”

“It’s… It’s Chase.”

Matt’s expression turned toward rage. “I’ll get my gun.” He turned around and started to walk toward the house.

Riley grabbed his overalls. “Matt, wait! It’s not what you think!”

“All I know is that Chase hurt you, and I made a promise to him to tear him limb from limb if he did.”

“He has amnesia!” Tears started to well up in Riley’s eyes. “He doesn’t even remember me at all!”

Matt relaxed at the mention of Chase’s condition. “Riley, I…”

“It’s as if the past few months never happened, Matt. There’s a wall in his memory, and I’m on the other side. It’s as if we never even met in the first place.”

“And, you’re fine with this?”

“I have to be. It’s what Chase would want. He wouldn’t want me to sit around and be depressed. He’d want me to get back out there and have a good time.”

Matt looked at him, confused. “I think you’ve lost your mind. It’s a good thing that you came back here. Nothing will get your mind off of being insane like being around your insane relatives.”

“You don’t mean…?” Suddenly, he could make out loud, off-key singing, getting louder. “Jenifer’s here?”

_~ “The five o’clock whistle’s on the blink. The whistle won’t blow, and what do you think? My pappy’s still in the factory, ‘cause he don’t know what TIME… It happens to be!” ~_ Jenifer grabbed Riley from behind and squeezed. “Riley! It’s been ages!”

“Jenifer…” Riley struggled to get the words out. “I kinda need to breathe…”

Matt snickered. Jenifer released him, and he turned around. “Sorry! I just get really excited!”

“I can tell.” He fixed his clothes. “What’s with the song?”

“It’s for a scene I’m doing in my Drama class at school. I picked ‘Little Red Riding Rabbit.’”

“Truly, it’s a classic piece of literature,” Matt commented.

Riley scratched his head. “Don’t you mean, ‘Little Red Riding HOOD’?”

She laughed. “No, silly! I’m doing the part of Red from the classic Bugs Bunny version! She’s much more comedic there than she is in the silly old book.”

Matt leaned in toward Riley. _“See what I mean? Crazy relatives.”_

“Um, Jenifer, I’m not really in the mood to be wacky right now.”

“Aw, what’s the matter? What’s got your smile turned upside down?”

“His boyfriend, Chase, has amnesia, and doesn’t remember him at all. He’s bummed because, basically, he lost the love of his life yesterday.”

Jenifer’s jaw dropped. “Oh, my gosh, Ry! I had no idea! I’m so sorry!”

“I’ll be fine. I’m sure that this amnesia is only temporary. He’ll be back before I know it.”

“I don’t know, Ry. There was one guy who had amnesia and forgot who he was for ELEVEN YEARS. He wound up taking on the initials of the restaurant that the EMTs found him at, and –“

“Hey, what’s that over there?” Matt pointed toward a nearby wooded area, cutting her off. “I think it’s a wolf in a nightgown! You’d better practice your lines with him!”

“Good idea!” She turned and ran toward the woods. _“Hey, Grandma! That’s an awfully big nose for you… TO HAVE!”_

Riley rolled his eyes and sighed. “Oh, Jenifer…”

“Seriously, bro,” Matt asked, “are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I have to be fine. It’s what Chase would want, and…” He felt the tears start to well up behind his eyelids again. “Oh, no… I need to stop crying…”

“Dude, it’s a natural reaction to what happened. You cry all you want. Although, if you really want privacy, you should take up residence in the outbuilding out behind the barn. Nobody will know that you’re back there.”

“I can’t go back there. That’s where Chase and I last had sex the night before the accident.”

“I hope you cleaned things up when you were done.” He noticed Riley look away. “You _did_ clean things up, didn’t you?”

“Well…”

“Well, nothing. You’re going to clean it up. I’ve got a date later, and I need to use it.”

“But, I’m heartbroken!”

“That’s not all that’ll be broken if you don’t clean that up by the time I get back from the shooting range.” He leaned in close, looking down at Riley. “Understand?”

“Y-yes…”

Matt smiled and stood back up. “That’s better. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are some bottles and cans with my name on them. See ya, bro.”

Riley waved, and Matt walked away. He turned toward the outbuilding and sighed, as memories of Sunday night came flooding back into his mind. “Why can’t memories come back to Chase this easily?”

~*~

The nurse slowly removed the needle from Chase’s arm and pressed a cotton ball onto the puncture wound. “Hold onto this, please.” Chase applied pressure to the cotton, as the nurse affixed a piece of tape to hold it in place. “That ought to do it.”

“That didn’t hurt at all, Deirdre,” Chase said, smiling.

She blushed. “Thanks, cutie.” She looked around. “Hey, are you single?”

“Whoa, that’s awfully forward of you to ask.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be! I… I don’t think I’m seeing anyone. I mean, I might be, but I don’t remember for sure. My friends said that I was seeing someone, but they could be lying.”

“Oh, really? Maybe this will jog your memory…” She moved up toward Chase’s face and leaned over. Her lips met his, and she softly kissed him. He closed his eyes, moved his head up, and deepened the kiss. As he kissed her, his mind started to play back a new memory…

~*~

> Chase put his arms around him and turned toward the mirror. “Wouldn’t you want to make everyone jealous when we win? I mean, look at us! Don’t we look good together?”
> 
> “We do look nice together,” he commented. He sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it!”
> 
> “Yay!” Chase gave him a peck on the cheek. “Pick you up at five!” He gave his buns a quick squeeze on his way out, causing him to jump a little.

~*~

He quickly opened his eyes and pushed Deirdre away. “I can’t do this.”

“Aw, why not?”

“I remembered something during the kiss. I… I can’t do this.”

“You _are_ dating someone, aren’t you?” He nodded. “Figures. All the cute ones are always taken.”

He scratched his head. “Yeah… We are…”

“Whoever they are, they’re lucky to have you. Just from what I’ve seen, you seem like a nice guy. I hope everything comes back to you soon.”

“Yeah… Me, too…”

“I’ve got to get your blood to the Lab.” She picked up her tray and walked toward the door.

“Hey, Deirdre?” She stopped and turned around. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure!” She smiled, turned back around, and walked out of the room.

Chase looked around the room. “I wonder who that was. It looked like a guy, but I couldn’t make out the voice. Who could it have been?” He shoved his head back into the pillow and closed his eyes. “God, why can’t I remember? This is so frustrating!”

~*~

Riley walked into the house, kicked his shoes off onto the welcome mat, and entered the kitchen, where Grandma Iola was sitting at the table, accompanied by Jenifer. “Riley, are you doing okay?” Iola asked.

“Yeah, Grandma, I’m fine.”

“Jenifer told me what’s been going on. Goodness, Riley, why didn’t you call us right away?” He sighed. “Have a seat.” He obliged. “You know that we’re here for you, right?” He nodded, trying to hold back the tears that were starting back up. “Why didn’t you call?”

“It’s been a whirlwind few days, guys. I planned to sit by Chase’s side until he got out of the hospital but, when he said that he had no idea who I was, I couldn’t take it. It was through the coercion of Kendall and my friends that I come back here to get away from it all. It’s like the past few months never happened. Now, I have this great relationship in my mind, and Chase doesn’t even know who I am. It’s devastating.”

“I can’t even imagine how it must have felt to hear Chase say that he doesn’t know you,” Jenifer commented.

“Well, tomorrow is our annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner,” Iola said, “and the rest of the family’s going to be coming. Are you going to be up for a celebration?”

_“And, lots of Black Friday planning?”_ Constance walked into the kitchen carrying a stack of printed out sale ads. “This year, we’re all going to be among the first in line everywhere.” She slammed the papers down on the table. “I want my free stuff, and I plan on getting all of it.”

“All that’s missing is some war paint,” Riley scoffed. Iola motioned toward the counter, where a large jar of black face paint was sitting. He looked over and saw it. “There it is.”

“Ry, if you’d rather sit out the festivities, we’ll understand,” Iola said.

“No way,” Constance interjected. “I need every single body that is going to be here to get in line at some store. – Not that I don’t love you, honey, and I really am sorry about what happened, but this is THE biggest shopping day of the year! I’ve been planning this now for two months.”

“I’ll be fine. Getting my mind off of everything might be just the thing that I need.”

“That’s the spirit! You and Jenifer can take Walmart.”

“Can’t I have Matt instead?” Riley asked.

Jenifer gasped. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Jen, I think Matt is legitimately crazy. If I’m going to Walmart on Thanksgiving, I need someone that’s genuinely bananas to help defend me in the crowds. Matt is that person.”

“Oh, so, I’m not crazy enough for you?”

“There’s a difference between your crazy and Black Friday crazy. You’re not aggressive in your craziness. Matt threatened to tear Chase apart if he ever broke my heart.”

Iola perked up. “He didn’t go to see him now, did he?”

“No, no, no. He went to the shooting range. I explained what happened when I got here, and it seemed to calm him down.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I think we’re all missing the point,” Constance spoke.

“And that is…?” Riley asked. He already knew what the answer would be.

“We need to maximize our Black Friday take. We need to station the proper family members at the proper stores. Riley, you’re correct: Matt’s presence would enable you to get the largest Walmart take, plus, since their sales start at 5:00 in the evening, you could get in on the action early enough and possibly get two of everything that I want.”

“I thought this Black Friday craze would have worn off by now,” Iola commented.

“Never! Besides, who’s the one that used to drag me out to Value City at 3:00 in the morning to get $20?”

“Me…”

“That’s right, you. You raised me like this, and I have to instill these same values in my children!”

“But, Aunt Constance, we can always stay home, shop online, and avoid the crowds,” Jenifer interjected. “Wouldn’t that be easier than standing in line or, in poor Riley’s case, having to spend basically an entire day at Walmart waiting for their different sales to start?”

“You can’t break tradition,” Constance replied. “We’ve been doing this for years, and something like the internet isn’t going to stop us.”

“Besides, Jen,” Riley added, “Walmart has free wireless internet. I can actually shop everywhere else while I’m there. Heck, with enough backup power for my phone, I can probably Periscope the entire experience! I can be famous!”

“Yeah, you’ll be famous. You’ll be known as that crazy guy walking around Walmart filming random people and talking to yourself.”

He shrugged. “Hey, I’ve got to earn my Crazy Pass somehow!”

“We should probably get to sleep,” Constance said, pointing to the clock. “It’s getting late, and we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

“It’s only 4:00. Matt’s not even back yet.”

“Fine, then take an ad and start looking for things that you’ll want.”

“There’s only one thing that I want,” Riley said, grabbing a stapled bunch of papers with the Walmart ad printed out on them, “and I don’t think that Walmart will have it.”

“Really, son?” Constance asked, picking up the printout of the CVS ad. “What’s that?”

“Constance!” Iola shouted. She nodded toward Riley. “You know…”

“What?” She paused. “Oh, right! Sorry, dear!”

“It’s fine. Really.”

“Mm-hmm…” Jenifer scoffed.


End file.
